After working with PlanPhilly through a partnership with PhiladelphiaNeighborhoods.com, I’ve continued to work with PlanPhilly and its blog arm, Eyes on the Street.
My most recent stories can be found through the links below…
Mariposa and Common Market Work to Meet Fresh Local Food Demand
When Common Market started in 2008 as a way to provide a direct link between regional farmers and urban food providers, it had just five customers. One of those customers, Mariposa Food Co-op, was a four-person-staff, 700-member co-op operating a single-aisle storefront grocery on Baltimore Avenue.
Since then, Common Market and Mariposa have experienced remarkable growth, and this March that growth became visible when Mariposa managed a $2.5 million relocation from its 500-square-foot storefront to a nearly 5,000-square-foot retrofitted, historic bank just up the street from its former location.
West Philadelphia Fresh Food Hub to Launch this April
This April Preston’s Paradise and Greensgrow Farms plan to launch the West Philadelphia Fresh Food Hub, a mobile grocery store that will serve Lancaster Avenue and the surrounding communities.
“Preston’s Paradise has been running a push cart market for about five years now, and we were looking for a way to scale up and be a more consistent access point to fresh food in our neighborhood,” said Ryan Kuck, West Philadelphia Fresh Food Hub project manager.
Debut of Japanese Garden’s Sakura Pavilion Kicks off Cherry Blossom Festival
Of the more than 200 buildings built in West Fairmount Park for the 1876 Centennial Exposition, only four remain, and two of those – originally built as “comfort stations” or bathrooms – were in dire need of attention before theFriends of the Japanese House and Garden and the City of Philadelphia began an adaptive reuse restoration project in 2010.
On March 31, Friends of the Japanese House and Garden hosted the grand opening of that completed project.
Small Scale Development Company Wins Preservation Alliance Award
When Power House Development, Inc. began building on a vacant lot at 1824 Diamond St. the company had no idea the lot was part of the Diamond Street Historic District or that it would have to build the house in accordance withPhiladelphia Historical Commission guidelines.
For a small, locally owned and family operated company like Power House, such news can be intimidating given the perceived costs of historic construction, but Power House, which also happens to be female and minority owned, exceeded the Historic Commission’s expectations, and for that, the company will receive two grand jury awards at thePreservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia’s Preservation Achievement Awards luncheon this May.
